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Slek Bas - Vine-vegetable or Ivy gourd is scattered wildly in Cambodia, especially in the mountain area. Slek Bas is also grown at home crawling on the ground or climbing along the fence sometimes along the poles. It has an ivy shape and grown like morning glory with curly string at the tip.The taste is somewhat like watercress and spinach but more mineral bite. Another similar name is “Derm Kabas” which sounds almost the same but it’s a cotton plant. Do not get mixed up. Cambodian immigrants brought their native flavor to many parts of the world. In US, Slek Bas is widely grown in hot places like Long Beach, CA, Florida, Arizona where Cambodian is highly populated. Recently there is an increasing number of Slek Bas available selling at Asian market. 
Slek Bas is very important vegetable for Cambodian and it is used in varieties of authentic soup:
-somlor prohaer – mixed vegetable soup with fermented fish and lemongrass base.
-somlor somlouk – mixed vegetable soup with fermented fish base
-sgnou lek bas with pork rib/chicken in clear broth
-char lek bas trolob klanh – saute slek bas with oil, salt and pepper
War and provocation is not likely to finalise this issue. In 1962 the Thai were very under-prepared for the international hearing of ownership of the land on which Preah Vihear is seated. Under prepared by ignorance or poor advice seems in itself to be a question. The ruling was made appropriately on the arguments and advice of the time. It is a final ruling. The land is now owned by Cambodia. The Thai argue that it’s a poor border-line. A borderline is arbitrary and as mentioned the access to geographical parameters is accessible and easy with GPS. The borderline is not an argument of substance.
The political wranglings within Thailand three years ago and percolating on until now have drawn issues not related to the central internal theme. This is a ploy to add as much fuel to the political fire as possible. The militaries responded the issue was escalated. The Thai dissidents got what they wanted a little bit of chaos, the Khmer were frightened and responded likewise. The people around Preah Vihear were terrified and angry. They lost their livelihoods again over-night and no-one seems to be gaining any advantage at all.
UNESCO ruled that this was a heritage for all mankind. It is now held for all mankind under the stewardship of Cambodia. It is a magnificent heritage, it allows us an insight into a lost civilisation with it’s solutions and social strategies, its magnificent architecture and most of all an understanding of the ancestors of the modern Khmer. It gives the modern Khmer a sense of re-identification, an aspect very damaged some thirty years ago and only now very slowly re-evolving.
In history, land is won and lost. This generally happened by war. Today we negotiate and let arbiters judge the arguments. No war! Ancient history offers very little validity to land ownership in my eyes, especially a place like Preah Vihear which has none or very little impact on the Khmer or Thai identity. The worst thing that one country can do is to take land away from another. It will predictably provoke serious reaction and probably war. It’s just not worth it. The aggressors are judged to be wrong by the whole civilised world.
PREAH VIHEAR belong solely to Cambodia. Built and designed by the sweat and blood of Cambodian, built location on Cambodian soil.
The attack and long arguement by Thai against Cambodian people is nonsense and completely insane. Intrusion over Cambodian ancestor’s heritage is illegal. To claim that Cambodian ruins belong to Thai is totally an insult to Cambodian ancestors. Thai should and MUST apologize to Cambodian people and should stop bullying other nation.
-Andrew Larzein (Specialize in southeast asian study)